NOVANEWS
PAUL BALLES: Homeland Insecurity
October 3, 2010
by Debbie Menon
by Debbie Menon
“One man’s terrorist and another man’s freedom fighter”
“Terrorist” is probably the dirtiest label of the last decade. It has also proven convenient for a number of uses:
1. instil fear in the populace
2. justify large military budgets
3. excuse extra-judicial assassinations
4. deflect attention from one’s actions to another’s
Following 9/11, the US and its “coalition of the willing” entered into a War on Terror. The so-called War on Terror conveniently served all of its uses.
As a means to instil fear, those who bandied about the terms terrorist and terrorism seldom took the time to make clear what the terms meant.
Is it terrorism if an enemy attacks a military organization, or does it apply only to attacks on civilians?
When the American military attacked the Iraq military, would that fit any definition of terrorism? Or would it apply only to the attacks on civilians?
Calling on the same logic, can the 9/11 attack on the Pentagon (military) be on a par with the attacks on the Trade Center (civilian)?
Can governments perform terrorist acts, or are they only performed by non-governmental groups? Can Israelis be considered terrorists when they attack Lebanon or Gaza or West Bank enclaves?
When these places are attacked, are the only terrorists non-governmental, like Hezbollah in Lebanon, Hamas in Gaza or suicide bombers in the West Bank?
A woman whose son was killed said, “Israel took my home in Jaffa, now they come and kill us here, and they say WE are the terrorists.”
During the Algerian War of the 1950s, the Arab nationalist guerrilla insurgency won the title of “anti-colonial freedom fighters” while the French government, military and settlers were branded “torturers” and “terrorists”.
Do acts of terrorism apply only during peacetime? Or are they applicable during wartime? The activities in both Iraq and Afghanistan have both been referred to as wars.
Does it matter if an act called “terrorism” is done for a good cause? Does it matter if those performing the acts have been oppressed or prevented from enjoying their fundamental human rights?
Ironically, who are the “terrorists” and who are “freedom fighters” have yet to be determined in the US war on terror.
It’s important to consider these questions very carefully before labeling anyone or members of any group, simply by virtue of their membership, as terrorists.
What some governments, particularly the United States and Israel, call terrorists, others have called resistance movements. Their members have also been called “freedom fighters”.
According to Wikipedia, “a resistance movement is a group or collection of individual groups, dedicated to fighting an invader in an occupied country…”